The fulltiming adventure begins

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Phil/Edee

Terry.... wow... I know I LOVE things that have a 3 year warrantee!! Are you keeping good notes on all this?? You'll make a million$$$ when they make it into a movie! How far are you guys from Plant City, FL again????

Mapquest syas we are 35 miles away, downtown to downtown.
If I tried to write a book about our adventures, no one would publish it, it would be too unbelieveable.

[HiHoAgRV]

Originally Posted by cosmotini

Terry,
It's an election year so here's my vote.
Go for the new fridge with the warranty and sell the replacement rebuilt fridge on the classifieds or ebay "as is".

In Ebay terms that's "Worked great the last time we used it"

[Sugarfoot]

Originally Posted by overlander63

. . . If I tried to write a book about our adventures, no one would publish it, it would be too unbelieveable.

But it sure would be a great read.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV

In Ebay terms that's "Worked great the last time we used it"

Or, "purchased but never installed"...
Anybody need a nearly-new fridge?

[GreatPumpkin]

Originally Posted by overlander63

Or, "purchased but never installed"...
Anybody need a nearly-new fridge?

Terry -

The last time I got a fridge from you, Fed-Up (FedX) delivered it two months later and it looked like they had run out of room in the truck so they tied it to the bumper and drug it here .

Seriously though folks, Terry's a great guy. The fridge left his place in good working condition, and the price was great.

It's amusing? now to look back and laugh. I had FedX pick it up on my account. FedX lost it. Paid off on the insurance (silly me, I didn't insure it for enough to get a new one). Fast forward two months later. I came home to a cremated used-to-be fridge shaped box dumped in my driveway! I bet that driver was prowling the neighborhood waiting for no one to be home.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by GreatPumpkin

Terry -

The last time I got a fridge from you, Fed-Up (FedX) delivered it two months later and it looked like they had run out of room in the truck so they tied it to the bumper and drug it here .

And I refunded his full purchase price, less shipping, as well...
An almost-amusing incident we are both trying to forget... Another one of those things I can put in that book that will never be published.

[overlander63]

I am going to be picking up the new fridge from Airstream on Monday, and installing it Tuesday evening after work. Hopefully it will be the last time for a long time that I have to do this. I don't mind working on Bertha, but the definition of "insanity" is perfomring the same task over and over, end expecting a different result...
Maybe this time I'll be able to post some pictures of the swap, for future reference.
If and when the replacement for our broken fridge arrives, I'll list it in the forums classifieds, we'll see what happens there.

[overlander63]

Today was a beautiful, sunny day, with temps in the mid 80's, so I decided to tackle the indoor rain problem I have mentioned in another thread. We seem to have developed 3 leaks, one in the wall next to my bed, resulting in a wet wall cover and mattress, one in the roof near the air conditioner, which leaks along the wires into a cabinet, and a strange one that doesn't put water on the floor or cushions, but fills one of the bins under the gaucho with water if it rains.
I opted to climb the corporate ladder, and address the two rearward leaks today. I toddled over to Camping World, and got a couple tubes of sealant, and returned to go to work. I removed the a/c shroud, and all 3 sewer vent covers, and got to work. The a/c seams looked kind of dried out and cracked, so I filled in around the seams and rivets that hold the unit on the roof, along with some rivets just forward of the unit. While that was curing, I got started on the vents, and got a surprise. The gaskets are dried out and cracked, and the insect repellent (screens) are completely gone. No one locally (within 25 miles) had anything I could use today, so I daubed soem clear silicone on the gaping cracks in the gasket temporarily. I'll stop by a truck stop sometime next week and pick up an inner tube to cut upfor new gaskets.
I then reattached the shroud to the upper a/c unit, and climbed down off the roof.
With any luck, the leaks will be stopped now, and I'll replace the gaskets next time it's warm and sunny, and I don't have anything else to do...
Next on my "to do" list is find out why one of the bins fills with water when it rains, but no water can be seen entering the coach.

[overlander63]

Monday evening, I left work, and rode to the Sarasota Fairgrounds, site of the Florida State rally, and picked up a brand new Dometic 2662 fridge. Naturally, it rained all the way there, most of the time I was there, and all the way back... I got back about 10 o'clock Monday night, and proceeded to rip apart the kitchen and remove the off-line 2652 from its hole in the wall. Then, it was pull the old fridge out, and slide the new one in its place. Of course, the battery died in the digital camera with the very first picture I tried to take of the process, and I didn't feel like driving to the store (in the rain) for more batteries. It was pretty straightforward, I am getting pretty fast at doing this, it was in and working by 11:30, with the freezer @34 degrees by 12:30 AM. I took a shower and lost consciousness for about 5 hours, and at 6:00 am it was 5 degrees in the freezer, and 34 in the fridge.
When I got home from work last night, the freezer was -3, and the fridge was 29-32 degrees.
Here are a couple photos of the installed product:

[overlander63]

Sigh...In keeping with the grand tradition of the forums, the &#$@%*^$ photos won't load...

[CanoeStream]

That's okay T-man. I've got your back ... and the picture to boot!

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by CanoeStream

That's okay T-man. I've got your back ... and the picture to boot!

Aw, crap! That's the photo of our trailer before my ex joined weightwatchers!

[Phil/Edee]

Terry.... the manuscript!!! Have you started it yet? I'm ready to start looking up publishers... as soon as you get the idea on paper!

Uh...what's the temp in the fridge by now?? Did they send you one from Minnesota by mistake???

Phil & Edee

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Phil/Edee

Uh...what's the temp in the fridge by now?? Did they send you one from Minnesota by mistake???

Phil & Edee

Fridge is 34-38, and freezer is from 3 to 20, depending on locations.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Phil/Edee

Terry.... the manuscript!!! Have you started it yet? I'm ready to start looking up publishers... as soon as you get the idea on paper!

"It was a dark and stormy night. A door banged shut. I girl screamed."

What do y'all think?

[overlander63]

Today was the last day the Airstream store was open in Sarasota, as well as the day the flea market was slated to be in business, both were at the Fairgrounds where the Florida State Rally is being held. I was officially under the weather, but had a stand-in visit both places, and got some goodies...
There is enough blue insert to completely refit all the rub rails, as well as enough ivory insert to equip the living room interior trim, and have some left over to finish off the bathroom area. There was also a tambour for the credenza we needed, so that wound up in the box to come here, along with some other odds and ends. It rained pretty hard here today, with no leak in the bed area, but there is still a small drip in the kitchen (water, not resident) that I will have to take care of. Look for more updates as the stuff gets installed...
Still trying to upload fridge pics...

[overlander63]

This morning I again climbed the corporate ladder, and investigated the one remaining leak in the roof. I moved the center Fantastic vent, and water gished out from under one corner of it. I then climbed back down, and grabbed some equipment, and went back up, and proceeded to remove the Fantastic. I cleaned all the goop out from under it, and ran a fresh bead of Vulkem around the edge of the hole. I reinstalled the vent, ran another bead around the outside edge of the vent, and daubed a bit of it on each screw head. I then went inside, and wired in the new reversing switch for that vent (it originally was "exit only").
After that, it was onward and inward to the vinyl insert around the living room ceiling. The old stuff was brittle, and almost brown in color. As soon as I touched it, it crumbled to shards of petrified vinyl, which I got to clean up. It looked like a brown snowstorm had struck inside the living room.
When I started installing the ivory insert, I noticed it was very stiff. After struggling with it for some time, I had a moment of inspiration, and grabbed a window screen installation tool (the thing with a grooved wheel on one end, and a pointed wheel on the other). I placed one side of the insert in the groove it is supposed to go in, and ran the roller down the opposite side of the vinyl, seating it in the other groove. This worked well, until I gotto a corner, and found the vinl was too stiff to make the turn along the curve of the trailer. Another inspiration struck, and I grabbed Marie's hair dryer (sometimes being married is good, as I have no use for much in the way of hair care products...), and warmed the vinyl until it was pliable, and ran the roller around the softened vinyl. A repeat on the other side, and the vinyl install job was over, until tomorrow.
Tomorrow I get to replace some of the vinyl in the bathroom,. then move outside to install the blue rub rail inserts.

[overlander63]

Attempting the fridge picture upload--again.

[Chuck]

nice.

say, did you say that the factory still carries tambour for early 70's trailers???

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Chuck

nice.

say, did you say that the factory still carries tambour for early 70's trailers???

Outwater Plastics does, you just need to furnish the cutting tool.